A novel multi-agent architecture for manufacturing systems

This paper discusses the disadvantages of classical MRPII/ERP planning system in terms of the characteristic of agile manufacturing and proposes a multi-agent-based planning system model. In the model, all the agents communicate an cooperate using Java Message Service (JMS). All the agents in the system are divided into two different kinds according to their rules: the working agents and the controlling agents. The working agents are constructed based on the routing process or work center, and the controlling agents are constructed according to an enterprise's different management functions, such as cost management, quality management, strategy management, etc. descriptive algorithm is given to show the advantage of the multi-agent system.